Bruises and Burglars
by N. H. Moonshadow
Summary: When you live close quarters with a cop, an Autobot and an Ex-Decepticon, you are bound to pick up a thing or two. Unfortunately for one intruder, Jodi's new hobby is less than gentle. (A timestamp set after Disregarded but before Stranger than Frisson. Without reading Disregarded, this makes no sense at all.)


Jodi wondered if her bruises would fade before school was back in session.

Which, of course, was only ten short days away.

At that depressing thought, the teen groaned and tumbled back onto the couch, letting her wiry limbs sprawl every which way. The groan turned into a hiss as she landed on one of her more prominent bruises along the back of her ribs, a souvenir from when Barricade flung her with just a tad too much force.

She had overestimated how secure her guard was, and had been shocked when she found herself ass over teakettle and with the wind knocked out of her.

Her own damn fault really.

It had been over a month since the cast had come off of her wrist, and a few weeks since Ratchet had cleared her for normal usage. On the drive back home from Base Jodi finally worked up the nerve to share the idea she had been holding onto since Soundwave's flunkies had attacked. In the wake of everything that had happened Jodi thought it would be a good idea to know how to properly defend herself. She had barely managed to survive this past year by stubbornness and an insane amount of dumb luck, and it wasn't like she could count on that next time.

And if life had taught her anything, it was that there was always a next time.

Although hand to hand wasn't exactly effective against Cybertronians, Decepticons were hardly the only evil thing in the world. Besides, everybody had to start somewhere, right? Barricade had once told her that if all you have is yourself then you better damn well know what you're doing, and those were words she clung to, engraving them into her very core until the words were set in stone.

Barricade took very little convincing, but that was hardly surprising. They soon began their hand-to-hand lessons in the backyard, with 'Cade's Holoform as a less than gentle sparring partner. Jodi fell into the routine easily enough, used to Barricade's goading and quick temper, only now coupled with a more physical aspect. It reminded her of their time on the road to be honest, even if this was much more hands on than usual, and that did wonders for keeping her focused. The lessons were a bit sporadic, since they limited their time to when they knew that Riley and Prowl would be gone for at least an hour. Neither one of them wanted to test the boundaries of what the Autobots and their allies thought she should know and what Barricade was allowed to show her.

That lasted all of two weeks until they were caught one Friday afternoon when Prowl and Riley swung by home for their lunch hour. They had parked in the front of the house for once instead of the garage, just in case they had to make a quick exit. Barricade had been in the middle of teaching Jodi how to escape a particularly restrictive hold when she was suddenly dropped unceremoniously to the grass. Upon seeing 'Cade's guarded expression, instead of griping at him for the sudden drop, she twisted onto her belly to stare at Prowl and Riley who were standing dumbfounded by the back door.

Her eyes were huge when Prowl strode over, swift and stoic. Imagine her surprise when he began to critique her and then proceed to demonstrate an alternative with a slightly worried Barricade.

With Prowl and Barricade tag-teaming her lessons, not only was she gaining an obscene amount of muscle memory, but she was forced to think outside the box when they got creative with their sparring sessions.

And it also meant she was sore as shit afterwards, and her skin was now peppered with scrapes and bruises all along her arms, torso and legs.

This morning had been particularly brutal, both brothers agreeing that it was time to up the ante, and so were less gentle than usual. Not that they were exactly gentle to begin with. Hell, they didn't even go easy on her right side, reminding her that an enemy wouldn't care that she was half blind and would exploit it if they could.

Good thing she didn't give a shit about how she looked. She must look like the street rat she was last year, her skin all scraped and scruffed, and her hair was surely escaping her messy attempt at a braid.

The house was hers for the next few hours, with the boys heading back to base for their weekly debriefing (a bunch of pointless and boring bullshit, if 'Cade was to be believed), and Riley in his office back at the station to finish up some neglected paperwork. She asked him once why she just didn't bring it home, but he just shook his head and told her that it was better that he did work away from the temptations of TV and his rather impressive video game collection.

It was late afternoon now. The living room was dimly lit, warm yellow sunlight filtering in between the pulled blinds. The slats were clearly old, all tattered and bent, and Jodi mentioned to Riley once that he should replace them. All he did was grin at her and then tell her that the only reason she didn't like them was that they didn't leave the room in total darkness. He claimed she had spent so much time in the Base's underground Medbay that she became allergic to real sunlight.

Enjoying the quiet, Jodi closed her eyes and wiggled into a more comfortable position on the couch, debating with herself if it was worth the effort to get up and take a shower. She sighed, slowly sinking into that blissful space between sleep and wakefulness, drifting peacefully into the silence.

That lovely silence was shattered by the sharp rattle of keys in the door.

Mis-matched green eyes snapped open and ice cold fear poured heavy and sharp, settling into a familiar weight into her chest.

It wasn't any of the boys. Besides her, Riley was the only one with keys and he had those stupid rubber silencers on them to muffle the noise when he came in at odd hours. The sound was too sharp for those.

There was a stranger on the other side of the door.

Jodi heard the lock turn and made a split second decision. She rolled off the couch, silent as a cat, and utilized her small form to shuffle quietly under the couch.

From her vantage point, Jodi heard the door squeak on its hinge as the intruder closed the door behind them. She couldn't see much, just a flash of blue denim and sneakers as they walked right by her hiding spot. Air caught painfully in her chest when there was a loud thump above her head as something large and heavy was dumped onto the couch. She bit her lip hard to stifle any noise before it could escape her throat.

Over the thundering pulse in her ears Jodi heard the intruder move right through the living room and down the hall. She twisted enough to see the shadow on the wall walk as they moved further into the house, outlined by the bathroom light that Jodi never remembered to turn off without Riley pestering her. The shadow disappeared into full darkness as the bathroom door closed with a distinct click.

Alright.

Jodi took a few deep steadying breaths and willed her heart not to beat right through her ribs as she raced to gather her wits enough to come up with a plan. While not the most paranoid of police officers, Riley kept plenty of things around the house in case of emergencies, all tucked away in strategic places. Jodi had yet to catalogue it all, so with a hope and a prayer she did a quick search of the framework of the couch, her fingers swiftly coming into contact with cold metal.

Handcuffs.

Okay.

A half-baked plan came into focus and Jodi became painfully aware of the fact that she was a whopping ninety-five pounds of scrawny teenager against an unknown opponent. Her first instinct was to call 'Cade, or better yet Riley who was mere minutes away, but her new com unit was on the other side of the house sitting on her nightstand, well out of reach. Even if she managed to get a hold of them, who was to say they would make it in time.

A lot could happen in five minutes after all.

She was alone on this one.

Not knowing how much time she had, the teen swallowed hard and collected all the courage and determination that had gotten her through everything else, as well as every lesson Barricade and Prowl had drilled into her.

Okay. _Okay_, she could do this.

With one final exhale, Jodi moved.

On bare feet, she scampered out from her hiding place and darted down the hall, carefully avoiding every squeaky floorboard she knew of and took position beside the bathroom door and waited. Pulse thumping and adrenaline humming, the anticipation had her nearly vibrating right out of her skin. She adjusted her grip on the cuffs, tension building in her muscles as she held them still, body coiled and waiting for the strike.

From the other side of the door there was a soft scuff, the hiss of the sink turning on and then off, and then finally a two-step shuffle followed by the doorknob rattling. After an eternity the door swung outward, cloaking Jodi's presence in the shadow of the door until her target stepped into view.

Jodi struck fast and hard, holding nothing back.

With a vicious kick to the back of the knees their legs buckled and Jodi was on them before they even hit the ground. By the time the thrashing and screaming started, Jodi was sitting on their back, one hand already cuffed and grappling for the other. They bucked and twisted and Jodi clamped her legs around their waist to anchor her firmly in place as she tried to gain leverage to trap both arms behind their back. At one point an elbow cracked hard against Jodi's jaw, nearly sending the teen reeling. Instead, she grunted, clenching her aching jaw tight and threw herself back into the fray.

When it was all said and done, Jodi was straddling her opponent, both bands cuffed securely against their back.

Although she was used to sparring with people much larger and stronger than her, Jodi was surprised at how quickly she had this under control. She didn't know whether to be proud of herself or ashamed on behalf of the burglar. They did just get their ass handed to them by a sixteen year old who wasn't even a full five feet tall.

And so, with the situation suddenly in hand, Jodi got her first look at the would-be burglar.

It was a woman, maybe early fifties, with furious eyes, heavy make up, and wavy auburn hair that had that too-red tint that only came from a bottle.

And she had the voice of a banshee.

"Let me go _this instant_!" she shrieked, and then louder. "HELP, PLEASE SOMEONE CALL THE POLICE!"

Jodi laughed at the sheer nerve of this lady. "Hate to break it to you lady, but you picked the wrong house this time. Cops aren't going to back you on this one."

The woman scowled and tried to buck her off. Unhindered, Jodi did a quick pat down and grinned when a back pocket produced a cell phone. "What do you think you're doing? Give that back you little thief!"

"What do you mean what am _I_ doing? I live here!"

"Don't you dare give me that! Just wait and see! When my son gets home he'll give you a one way ticket behind bars you little creitin!"

"Your son?" Jodi parroted, a sinking feeling in her chest as her mind began to work.

If she was right, then she had just made the worst first impression _ever_.

"Mom, not that I'm not happy to see you, because I am, but _why_ do you have keys to my house?"

Lydia Tanaka sniffed, clearly offended at the world at large. She sat primly in her seat and brushed her hands against her designer jeans, as if dusting them off. "I made myself a copy the last time I came down for a visit. I knew you wouldn't mind."

"You-," Riley bit down on his tongue and looked up at the ceiling like it would give him all the answers in the universe. He wasn't in the mood to deal with this right now. Handling his mother took a special kind of patience on the best of days, especially when she was in a mood like this, where both common sense and common courtesy vanished just because it suited her. With a long-suffering sigh he loosened his tie with one hand, the other scouring his pockets for his cigarettes. Pulling one from the pack with his teeth, he snatched up the lighter sitting on the table by the ashtray.

His mother scowled at him from across the table. "You know I hate it when you smoke. Especially indoors. Do you want me to get sick?"

Nope, really not in the mood for this bullshit.

He glared right back and blew a lungful of smoke at the ceiling. "My home, my rules. And considering you scared the crap out of a sixteen year old girl, I can't say I'm exactly sympathetic about your health right now."

Normally he wouldn't be so bold, but Jodi had been freaked out and upset when she called him, trying to explain and apologize all in one breath. For a moment Riley thought she was going to have a full blown panic attack, and so with a quick explanation to Chief Brockman he jumped in his car and sped home to do damage control.

"Don't you take that tone with me, Riley! Besides that- that _miscreant_ attacked me! Since when did you start harboring delinquents? Your father would be-"

Riley slammed his fist against the table, startling her into silence. "We are not discussing dad!" He took a deep breath to calm himself enough to keep talking. He ground his teeth and unclenched his hand, carefully resting his palm against the table. "You should have called to say you were coming."

"I should have called? If I did that every time I wanted to visit I would never see you at all! I never got to see you over the holidays, and I still haven't met your partner and it's been _months_ now. What did you expect me to do?"

"Um, how about not breaking into my house, for starters."

His mother had no idea how incredibly lucky she was that Jodi was home alone. That was a rare thing, especially considering Barricade tended to hover close whenever possible. The terms of his parole were pretty clear on the "no killing humans" part, but if he had been there and had thought the invader a threat to Jodi, Riley had no doubt that he would be talking to his mother in a hospital room instead of his kitchen.

"Don't be over dramatic. I used the front door for heaven's sake, that's hardly breaking in."

"I'm not being dramatic!" Flicking the end of his cigarette over the ashtray, Riley shook his head, frustrated. "Mom, you're not listening to me. You could have been seriously hurt!"

"I did get hurt! Hellion damn near took out my kneecaps! And you never did answer me; since when did you play host to the neighborhood rabble?"

_Now who's being dramatic_, Riley thought sarcastically. If her knees were hurting half as much as she claimed, she would be putting ice on them and having Riley play her personal nurse, all the while verbally debating with herself about seeing a doctor. Besides, he still had very little sympathy for her at the moment, especially since Jodi was currently sitting in her room, icing her swollen jaw until Barricade came to get her. She was less than thrilled that she was paying the Hatchet a visit tonight, so was Riley for that matter.

Oh man, he was not looking forward to the ex-Decepticon's reaction to seeing the damage done to his charge. The kid might get a little banged up during their super-charged self defense lessons, but there has never been anything that has required more than an ice-pack and Ibuprofen. Good thing Prowl would be here as well and had already been informed of the situation.

"Don't ignore the question Riley," his mother scolded, leaning over the table and pointing a manicured fingernail at him in a way that hadn't been really effective since he was twelve. "Who is she and when is she going home? She tried to spin me a story about her actually living here, for crying out loud. But don't you worry, I called her out on that one right quick."

"Her name is Jodi and stop talking about her like she's a criminal."

"_When is she leaving_?"

"She's not." He gave his cigarette another flick, annoyed. "She told you the truth. She lives here. She's been living here since earlier this summer when I became her legal guardian."

Lydia's expression teetered between sucker punched and furious. Riley would have paid good money to see that expression on his mother's face, so needless to say he was thoroughly enjoying it now. It was nice to have her off-kilter for a change, instead of the other way around.

Before Lydia could form a cohearant reply, the deep rumble of two V8 engines pulled up to the house, followed by the muffled rattle of the garage door rising.

Well, _crap_.

Riley snubbed out the butt of his cigarette and rose just as the door to the garage banged open. Unsurprisingly, Barricade's Holo was in the lead, the tall and broad frame cutting an intimidating figure as he strode into the kitchen. Blood red eyes flashed as they zeroed in on Riley, the expression darker than a thunderstorm.

"Where is she?"

_Yikes_. His voice was as low as he's ever heard it, with a hard edge to it that was razor sharp.

Riley opened his mouth to answer, but was verbally run over by his mother, who was less than pleased by the intrusion. "Excuse me, but you can't just barge in here and-"

"And Jodi is in her room," Riley added hastily, eternally thankful that the tempermental alien left as soon as he had his answer, completely ignoring the human woman. A sigh of relief escaped his lungs. His mother caught his eye, pinning him with an incredulous look. He gave her a confused shrug. "What?"

"What do you mean, 'what'? Riley Elliot Tanaka! Who in God's name was that?!"

"That would be my brother." Lydia jumped, startled. She and Riley both turned to face Prowl, who had crept into the kitchen silently. He stepped forward and extended a polite hand to Lydia. "You must be Mrs. Tanaka. It's nice to finally meet you in person."

She took his hand , clearly confused. "And you are . . ?"

"Officer Prowl, ma'am. I'm Riley's partner."

She gave him a suspicious squint. "And that brute that just barreled through is you _brother_? I'm sorry, but I'm not seeing the resemblance."

That was putting it mildly. Though they were twins, however the hell that worked for giant alien robots, their Holograms were like night and day.

Barricade's Holo looked to be early to mid twenties, tall, and with a shock of coal black hair and a crimson stare that could make you squirm under it's intensity. One of the others back at base had suggested that he modify the holoform to have a more natural eye color, but he refused, stating that he had seen a fair share of humans parade around with similarly colored contact lenses. Personally, Riley thought just liked how uncomfortable people became when they noticed his eyes.

While the ex-Decepticon designed his Holo to stick out, Prowl's was built to disappear into the crowd. Early thirties, mouse brown hair, and standing a few inches below the six foot marker with very generic facial features. The only thing they shared was the identical intense stare when they were focused on something. Only instead of blood red, you had too-bright blue irises staring back at you.

Thank god they had long since ironed out the specifics of their cover story.

"'Cade is my half-brother," Prowl informed her as he released her hand, voice bored with the air of someone who has been forced to repeat something for the millionth time. In a way, he had, back when Barricade had been introduced to their collegues down at the station. Prowl pulled up a chair and sat between the two human's.

Recognizing it as the buffer it was, Riley shot him a grateful smile and plopped his butt back in his seat. "Sorry to interrupt your meeting."

Prowl offered a noncommital shrug and leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. "We were just about finished anyway. It was all I could do to keep 'Cade from breaking the speed limit once he heard. You know how those two are."

"Yeah."

Trying to keep Jodi and Barricade from one another was just as effective as trying to control the weather. You could get as creative as you wanted, but you couldn't really prevent it. Even the Autobots chalked that endeavor up as a lost cause.

"So how exactly are you all connected to that-that-"

"Mom," Riley cut in sharply. "You do not want to finish that sentence in present company. I'm not warning you again."

Lydia flung her hands up in disgust. "None of this makes sense Riley! I've been trying to get you to date for years, years, and now you tell me that you decided to go and adopt a teenager out of the blue? And a violent one at that? How did you expect me to react? Open arms and sunny smiles?"

"Mom, would you just-" Prowl caught his eye mid sentence, flicking his gaze towards the hallway pointedly. Letting the rest of the words die, he shifted his attention to the other two members of their household. Barricade stood there, bristling like an angry dog, Jodi's small form almost disappearing in his shadow. It didn't hide the swelling or the very beginnings of a spectacular bruise creeping across her jaw line.

He offered one of his lopsided smiles. "Hey, kiddo, how's the jaw?"

She shuffled forward with a shrug, making a beeline for the refrigerator to stuff her ice pack back in the freezer. "I've had worse."

Man, wasn't _that_ an ugly truth.

"Well, here's hoping the Doc says it's nothing and you two will be back before you know it."

She bit her lip, shifting her weight uncomfortably, one sharp eye bouncing back and forth between Prowl and Barricade. "I was hoping- I mean we thought that maybe-"

"Maybe it would be better if we planned on staying gone for the night." Barricade took a commanding step into the room, arms crossed, and eyes zeroed in on Prowl. "That is, if it's okay with my parole officer." His voice shifted, drenched in sarcasm and disdain, a blatant challenge to disagree.

Prowl's expression remained stoic, but he gave a dismissing gesture with his hand. "Don't speed, and mind the traffic laws. I'll see both of you in the morning."

With a curt nod, Barricade draped a possesive arm around Jodi and steered her towards the garage door. As she was willingly dragged away, Jodi graced Riley with one last half-hearted smile, and then they were gone, the door slamming behind them.

He needed to have a chat with that girl later, just to make sure they were on the same page about this whole incident.

While Riley and Jodi had a pretty easy going relationship, every so often something would crop up and Jodi would kind of shut down, becoming flighty and unsure of herself, and flat out timid on a bad day. Other times she would get angry, temper flaring up faster than a grassfire in summer. Barricade handled the anger better, encouraged it even, and nine out of ten times he would direct that anger at himself. From the way the kid settled after, Riley had a hunch that this was some sort of routine the had established during their months on the road.

Frankly, he was happy with whatever kept her sane and stable.

God, he wished he had been allowed to take a swing at her uncle, at least once. Bastard deserved it and thensome.

"Did he just say parole officer? Was he serious? That was a joke right?"

Riley groaned internally and resisted the urge to drop his face into his hands.

It was going to be a _long_ night.


End file.
